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What is Archaea?
Archaea are a group of organisms (not bacteria) that are the environment's natural waste cleaners. Archaea are one fifth the size of bacteria. Archaea attach to the outer membrane of bacteria. They accelerate the breakdown of organic waste and the conversion of some inorganic material to simpler and more stable compounds.
The remarkable breakdown occurs because the Archaea microbe converts depleted energy from the bacteria cell into Co-Enzyme A. Co-Enzyme A is catalyst that breaks down even more food for the bacteria to consume. This is called a Syntrophic Relationship. When Archaea are used in the presence of naturally occurring bacteria the acceleration rate of organic breakdown is 4 -5 times higher than conventional processes. The picture below illustrates this relationship.
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